A bipartisan US Senate committee has advanced a bill that would stop the Department of Education from moving its special education office to another federal agency.
- The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee voted 13-9 to advance S. 5046, introduced by Senators Tim Kaine, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski.
- The bill would stop the Education Department transferring oversight of special education, along with elementary/secondary, postsecondary and Native American education programs, to other agencies.
- It responds to an interagency agreement that would shift many Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) functions to the Department of Health and Human Services.
- The bill now heads to a full Senate vote.
Why it matters: If it becomes law, the bill would keep dedicated federal oversight of special education services for millions of US students with disabilities, rather than folding it into an agency without the same expertise.
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